Chart Show vs ChartBlog - Part 1
See this? A seemingly random collection of CDs, post-it notes, bottled water and scraps of paper. It could be the pile of stuff on the homework desk you share with your siblings (and OMG THAT'S WHERE MY REMI NICOLE CD IS!), or on the desk in the office you did your work experience in - all it needs is the endless cup of tea you had to repeatedly brew - or the desk in your trendy uncle's 'den' area, but it is none of those things. In fact, it's a pile of stuff on a desk in the offices of Radio 1. More specifically it's the desk in the offices of Radio 1 from which today's ChartBloggery will commence. I am LIVE, AT THE RADIO 1 CHART SHOW. WHOO!
THE STORY SO FAR:
Today did not get off to an amazing start, for reasons which are about as far removed from the glam of showbiz as it's possible to get without moving to Swindon (sorry Swindon!). But I already feel that this journey has taught me many things. Here's a selection:
Thing 1:
It's impossible to find your way around the rabbit warren of the Radio 1 offices without a sherpa, huskies, furry rucksacks stuffed with provisions, and most importantly, a security pass for every single door. There's only so many times you can squish your face up against the tiny glass windows in each door and try and look helpless (and starving) before people get irritated.
Thing 2:
Fearne and Reggie are not actually in the building yet, because there's a lot of 'production issues' to 'iron out' before the show starts at four. Not least of which is a detailed examination of this week's Top 40. Yes that's right! I've ALREADY SEEN this week's Top 40! I know who's at No.1! But I can't tell you yet, otherwise it would spoil the surprise.
Thing 3:
Big decisions are taking place all around me. The chart show can't actually play all of every single record in the Top 40, so a conversation needs to take place about which songs won't be played on air and which will.
And it's not as easy to make the decision as you'd think. If a new song by a chart veteran (who sings like a helium wolf) has entered the Top 40 at a relatively low position, should that get played instead of a very popular (but played-to-death) former No.1 which is further up the chart? I mean, clearly more people are into the former No.1 than the wolf song, but the wolf song maybe deserves the attention more, don't you think?
See? Fiddly, innit?
Thing 4:
Then there are chart anomalies to sort out. Unexpected hit songs need to be tracked down in a hurry so they can take their radio backslap, and in the case of Amy Winehouse's 'Valerie', there's a musical mystery to be solved.
It seems the song is so popular it has managed to be a hit twice...in the SAME WEEK! This clearly isn't a normal state of affairs, so Stuart, the Chart Show's producer, has to try and work out what's going on. In the end it emerges that there's the Mark Ronson version, with all the horns and '60s soul and stuff, and then there's the Live Lounge version, which is an extra track on the download single.
Thing 5:
Nailing stars down for interviews is no easier when you're a national radio station than it is if you're a well-respected blogging institution (of limited appeal). Craig David will definitely be talking to F&R at some point during the show, as he is a very good boy. But Nicole Scherzinger is proving harder to pin down (unless you are Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton, and the News Of The World isn't just making things up again).
Thing 6: This isn't just the first time Chart Show/ChartBlog linkup, it's also the first time the Chart Show will be being edited down and made available in podcast form. The boffins are having a field day!
Comments